We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard. 

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

•            No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday

•            All children learn from a quality basic education and that,

•            Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children.  We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

SCI - Afghanistan

 Save the Children has been working in Afghanistan since 1976. Our way of working close to people and on their own terms has enabled us to deliver lasting change to tens of thousands of children in the country. The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child is the basis of our work.

We are helping children get a better education, we make it possible for more boys and girls to attend school, we help children protect themselves and influence their own conditions. We work with families, communities and health workers in homes, clinics and hospitals to promote basic health in order to save lives of children and mothers

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3:  the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Child Protection Advisor is responsible for the overall leadership and technical oversight in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Save the Children’s program and advocacy work on Child Protection and relevant sub-themes such as Child rights goevernance etc.

The post is responsible for ensuring child protection principles are mainstreamed in the organization’s and partners’ work.  In addition, the post is expected to provide strategic direction and focus on Child Protection, developing innovative and evidence-based programs that will enable the country office to become a center of excellence in identified CP areas, and conceptualizing projects that can achieve results at scale in prioritized areas. This includes both emergency and development programming. 

To ensure cross-sectoral integration and program coherence, the Child Protection Advisor will work closely with the technical advisors on Child Rights Governance, Education, Humanitarian, Child Poverty, Health and Nutrition and the Program and Senior Managers in the field.  This position will also work closely with the other members of the Program Development and Quality Unit in relation to proposal development and resource mobilization; program learning, monitoring and impact; and policy advocacy.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Head of Technical Unit, Programme Developmet, Quality and Advocacy

Staff reporting to this post: No

Indirect: Provides guidance and technical supervision to Child Protection staff based in the field offices.

Budget Responsibilities: None

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

In line with Save the Children’s dual mandate, these key areas of accountability apply to work in emergencies and in development settings.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

Thematic Area Leadership & Strategic Planning

• Periodically analyses the children’s rights and child protection situation in the country and feeds this into the country office’s assessment and planning process
• Provides inputs in defining the country office’s strategic focus on Child Protection, ensuring integration of Save the Children’s Theory of Change in the strategies and approaches; develops and periodically updates the strategy paper in relation to Child Protection
• Identifies innovations in Child Protection  work and ensures evidence-based results when designing Child Protection programs and projects
• Provides inputs in the development and drafting of the country office strategic and annual plans, with a particular focus on Child Protection
• Actively participates in global and regional Save the Children discussions on Child Protection programming, ensuring that country office priorities are aligned with the global initiatives.
• Ensure linkages with relevant research initiatives and ensure that findings and recommendations from these, as well as specific project & program evaluations, feed into the Save the Children CP & CRG programme strategies & design.

Programme Development   

• Lead the strategic development of quality Child Protection programming, including development of project designs/proposals that meet SCI and sector standards. 
• Serve as the Child Protection thematic lead in development of proposals and budgets coordinating with other technical and implementation staff.
• Actively communicate and coordinate with other technical advisors and project managers to ensure integrated approaches across themes
• Build on technical knowledge, research and current/previous programming to lead development of innovative Education proposals in close coordination with other teams. 

Fundraising and donor engagement  20%

• Oversee strategic fundraising to support implementation of the Child Protection results framework and thematic advocacy Plans.  This includes funding for projects, research and advocacy to support policy change objectives.
• Contribute to the development and regular updating of an SCI Afghanistan donor engagement and fundraising plan.
• Develop and maintain contacts with current and potential donors, partners and key technical agencies, in coordination with the PDQA Director. Support donor meetings and visits. 
• Secure sufficient funding to maintain or expand the country office’s Child Protection programs as per the country strategic plan needs.

Programme Quality and Effectiveness  20%

• Serves as the lead technical resource in state-of-the-art programming and advocacy on Child Protection.
• Builds the capacities and provides technical support to field offices and partners to enable them to meet agreed results and effectively execute strategies in relation to Child Protection
• Provide required technical support to field teams and partners to achieve the required standards in Child Protection by developing relevant tools, designing modules and quality benchmarks.
• Support evidence-based learning for programme development and advocacy. Ensure that lessons learned are properly documented, effectively disseminated and, where appropriate, incorporated into wider design and advocacy initiatives.
• Provide training and oversight to ensure proper understanding of cross-cutting issues among staff in Child Protection projects and integration of same in projects under thematic area.
• Conduct regular field visits to provide technical support and undertake quality monitoring.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team to ensure quality MEL systems and frameworks for CP programme that monitors the impact of projects and progress towards strategic programme and advocacy objectives.   

Policy Analysis, Advocacy for Policy Change

• With the support of the Advocacy Manager, develop and implement Save the Children’s Child Protection advocacy work. Direct advocacy efforts to achieve Child Protection advocacy objectives and outcomes.
• Undertake research to inform programming, strategic direction, policy and advocacy.
• Develop policy briefs and position papers that contribute to realisation of CP and CRG objectives. Support networking and articulating Save the Children’s position, policy and strategy related to CP in national forums and meetings. 
• Keep abreast of national and global debates in policy and advocacy on Child Protection and related sub-themes analyse and use in programming.
• Represent Save the Children in relevant working groups, task forces, seminars and related fora in the thematic area; and among donors, UN agencies, International NGOs, and national and sub-national government counterparts in coordination.

Cluster Coordination, representation and networking

• Provide adequate and effective leadership in coordination of the CPiE sub cluster as co- lead together with UNICEF.
• Develop and maintain appropriate coordination mechanisms with the UNICEF, OCHA, UNHCR, I/NGOs, Donors and other members of CPiE sub cluster.
• Participate in relevant working groups, task forces, seminars and related fora in the thematic area; and among donors, UN agencies, International NGOs, and national and sub-national government counterparts in coordination

Others

•  Undertake capacity assessment and build capacity of staff and partners to ensure they have skills to deliver programmes and objectives.
• Ensure gender, disability and other cross cutting themes are mainstreamed in CP projects.
• Provides regular progress updates to the Director of Program Development, Quality and Advocacy and flags any issues/concerns with regard to Child Protection or other related PDQA work.
• Is aware of and follow safety and security policies and procedures
• Assumes other tasks as deemed necessary by the line Manager

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength

• approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Master’s degree in Community Development, Social Work or Social Sciences or equivalent experience
• Familiarity and experience with globally-accepted standards and practices on Child Protection
• Has technical capacity in CPiE programming.
• Has proven skills in program development and design, training design and delivery, and community facilitation processes, and networking and influencing
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; Able to articulate ideas and concepts clearly verbally and in writing
• Computer literate and adept in the use of MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Understands and believes in Save the Children’s mission and vision; commits to its objectives and willing to adopt Save the Children’s methodology and framework.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• At least 7 years of experience in CP technical advisory and/or managing Child Protection  programs
• Proven ability to develop high quality concept papers and project proposals.
• Can deal with various levels of Child Protection stakeholders - from decision-makers to field level practitioners.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts. Familiar with cluster coordination.
• Can deal with various levels of Child Protection stakeholders - from decision-makers to field level practitioners.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts. Familiar with cluster coordination.

Desirable

• Highly organized, with good attention to detail and developed ability to prioritize multiple tasks to meet tight deadlines and organize work
• Can work well in highly stressful situations; able to manage multiple competing tasks,  prioritize deliverables and meet reasonable deadlines
• A team player, willing to work long hours toward the attainment of program objectives and deliverables

Qualified applicants are highly encouraged to apply for the position by filling in the online application form. In addition to the online application form, they can also attach their CV and cover letter in the online system. Please note that only the applications received through the online portal will be considered for this position.

Applicants can login to the online application system by copying and pasting the following link intro their web browser. Returning users will need to enter their username and password, first time users will need to create a user account.

It is recommended that you save your username and password for future job applications through the online system.

Link:https://hcri.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/jobs/preview/13370/?amp;locationId=300000000345568&locationLevel=country&mode=location&lastSelectedFacet=LOCATIONS&selectedLocationsFacet=300000000341839

Save the Children International (SCI) is committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion as core to our vision and values. We provide equitable employment opportunities and aim to increase the representation of women, people with disabilities, and individuals from minority groups to effectively meet the diverse needs of the children and communities we serve.

At SCI, we value the authentic selves of everyone, including you! If you have any access needs or require support due to a disability or other reasons, please let us know at the time of your application. We are here to assist you and ensure an accessible and inclusive recruitment experience.

Please note: SCI does not request any fees during any stage of the recruitment process.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.